Like a taut bowstring about to snap at any moment.

Not a single person present dared to breathe loudly.

Outside, clear sounds of fighting could still be heard. Enemies surrounded them on all sides, yet inside it seemed like internal strife had broken out.

Jian Chou knew that wearing the Cauldron Ring, with countless people watching from outside, and while she hadn’t yet escaped the Extreme Realm, she shouldn’t make the slightest mistake…

But how could she control herself?

She was merely flesh and blood, with the seven emotions and six desires.

Upon suddenly seeing an old relic from Yashan, how could she remain calm?!

The Battle of Yin-Yang Realms—a thousand Yashan cultivators had perished!

Now, after sixty years, she was actually seeing a Yashan Order, and it was being trampled underfoot by an Esoteric School Buddha!

And this old woman before her seemed intimately familiar with the always mysterious Snowy Region Esoteric School of the Nineteen Continents, with all kinds of secret knowledge at her fingertips. Her identity was definitely not simple!

It might not be enmity, but she had to ask!

Or perhaps…

She just wanted to use this murderous interrogation to ease the sudden surging grief in her heart…

Even Jian Chou herself couldn’t tell the difference.

Her emotions rose and fell like great tides, yet her eyes remained ice-cold.

The old woman, being stared at and pointed at with the Void Demon Umbrella, first felt a surge of terror. But when her gaze fell upon Jian Chou and she looked her over, she slowly regained her composure.

A kind of helplessness, mixed with the desolation of someone who had seen through worldly affairs.

She turned her gaze away, looking up at the Buddha statue that still gazed down at them from above.

“…You need not doubt my identity. I was indeed from the Nineteen Continents when alive, born in the Snowy Region Esoteric School, and was a Buddha Mother of the Esoteric School.”

Born in the Snowy Region!

A Buddha Mother!

Everyone was stunned.

They knew of the Snowy Region Esoteric School, but didn’t quite understand the term “Buddha Mother.”

First, no one had expected her to reveal her identity so simply, though they didn’t know if it was true or false. Second, this answer was rather unreasonable.

Chen Tingyan almost immediately frowned: “Cultivators from the Snowy Region Esoteric School of the Nineteen Continents should be in their thirty-six cities. Our City of Unjust Deaths has always been connected to the Mortal Realm Island, you…”

A person from the Snowy Region Esoteric School appearing in the City of Unjust Deaths?

“After death, I was indeed in Mantra City, but I didn’t like that place, so I traveled all the way to the City of Unjust Deaths, where I was unexpectedly chosen by Lord Jiang Chang of the King of All Cities. This time entering the Cauldron Competition, I had no intention of opposing you all or scheming against you—I’m just accompanying this girl Gu Ling.”

Saying this, the old woman looked down at Gu Ling.

Gu Ling had experienced a battle earlier, and her wounds hadn’t been treated yet, making her look rather disheveled.

She rarely experienced such ups and downs, and now was thoroughly frightened by Jian Chou’s sudden action.

Unlike the previous sense of security and fondness when looking at Jian Chou, now there was more deep confusion and even fear.

Hearing the old woman explain the reason for coming to the Eighteen Levels of Hell, Gu Ling’s eyes had already reddened.

Everyone knew that the old and young pair seemed to have a good relationship, so no one spoke for a moment.

All eyes turned to Jian Chou.

However, Jian Chou’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest.

She didn’t even pay attention to Chen Tingyan’s question or the old woman’s answer, only asking directly and pointedly: “Buddha Mother of the Esoteric School—what does this mean?”

“…”

The old woman didn’t speak for a moment.

Those aged eyes closed and drooped when she heard these two words.

But her hands gripping the cleaver tightened considerably.

Her voice was suppressed, somewhat hoarse, carrying the desolation that came only with age, mixed with three parts of irony born from experiencing worldly affairs.

“After Buddhism split and the Esoteric School migrated north to the Snowy Region, they developed a very unusual cultivation method called initiation.”

“They select clean girls aged twelve to nineteen to serve as ‘Wisdom Consorts,’ also called Buddha Mothers, specifically for dual cultivation initiation with Esoteric School cultivators.”

Saying this, she paused slightly, looking at Jian Chou again, and actually smiled slowly, with a strange kind of desolation.

“You wouldn’t want to know the details.”

You wouldn’t want to know the details.

What exactly would that entail?

Girls of such young age…

Weren’t Buddhist cultivators supposed to have pure hearts and few desires? Yet they engaged in such absurd “dual cultivation” practices, and even called them “Buddha Mothers” and “Wisdom Consorts”?

Because the Snowy Region Esoteric School was too mysterious to them, few people knew what hidden circumstances lay within.

Just hearing about it gave everyone an extremely uncomfortable feeling of revulsion.

Jian Chou wasn’t someone ignorant of worldly matters, not to mention Zhang Tang and Chen Tingyan who had long seen the ways of the world.

How much heartache and sorrow was hidden in that phrase “You wouldn’t want to know the details”?

The Snowy Region Esoteric School…

Slowly repeating this in her heart, Jian Chou looked at the old woman without withdrawing her gaze or completely dispelling her inner suspicions.

The sounds of fighting outside had gradually begun to subside by now.

It seemed the “internal strife” and “backstabbing” orchestrated by Sima Languan was nearing its end.

“If so, then I was overthinking and have wronged grandmother.” Jian Chou’s eyes flickered slightly, her voice impossible to tell if it was calm or turbulent as a raging sea. “Any random inconspicuous cultivator beside us has significant background. It seems this journey through the Eighteen Levels of Hell for the Cauldron Competition won’t lack excitement. Since thirty-six of the seventy-two cities of the Underworld belong to Buddhism, we’ll have to rely on grandmother’s guidance going forward.”

This meant she wouldn’t pursue the matter further.

Everyone relaxed.

Jian Chou turned her wrist, glanced at Gu Ling, and was about to withdraw the Void Demon Umbrella.

Who would have thought that at that instant, a black shadow flashed from behind the side murals, as if someone was crouching and peeping furtively.

“Who?!”

Jian Chou’s gaze immediately sharpened, and the Void Demon Umbrella she hadn’t yet withdrawn suddenly pointed toward that black shadow!

Soul power immediately flowed from her palm, through the umbrella handle, gathering at the umbrella tip!

“Bang!”

A white light mixed with faint purple, like a meteor, shot from the umbrella tip and immediately struck the black shadow!

Instantly there came a miserable “ow” cry that echoed throughout the entire Prison Bureau, even startling dust to fall from the building.

Everyone became alert and looked in that direction.

It was actually a little ghost hiding behind a colorful Buddha statue mural. Using some unknown method, his body couldn’t be seen—only a head was exposed.

Jian Chou’s simple and swift burst of soul power had actually formed into a nail, firmly pinning his head to the wall.

“Ow, ow… it hurts so much…”

The little ghost had a completely black face with several fangs and two horns on his head. He looked fierce and menacing, but his cries were quite pitiful, even with a sobbing tone.

He tried hard to pull his head off the nail formed from soul power, but the more he pulled sideways, the more it hurt.

Thus, his miserable cries became even more terrifying.

“It’s an evil ghost from the Prison Bureau.”

Anything related to the word “prison” was Zhang Tang’s specialty, even in the Extreme Realm.

He immediately identified the other party’s identity from the little ghost’s horns, walked over, and examined the mural, running his fingertip lightly across it to discover the paint was quite unusual.

“There’s a ‘door’ here, and who knows how many evil ghosts are hidden behind it.”

Each level of the Prison Bureau was governed by the ruler of each level of hell.

What souls would be sent here, when they should leave—all needed to be monitored and observed, handled one by one in perfect order.

Therefore, this small seven-story tower must have quite a few evil ghosts.

But after they entered, everything had been quiet with not half a ghost shadow to be seen.

Jian Chou had previously thought they were hiding on the upper floors, deliberately avoiding them, but it turned out they were hidden behind the murals.

Zhang Tang said there was a “door,” so it was either an illusion or something related to spatial rules.

Her brows moved slightly, and Jian Chou walked over.

Since the old woman and Gu Ling were standing in the middle, she brushed past them. Gu Ling immediately stepped back, quite frightened.

“Wuu wuu wuu… it hurts so much, please don’t kill me. I’m just a little evil ghost who came out to watch the excitement. I absolutely had no intention of scheming against you.”

“Grandpa, grandma, spare me…”

“Give this little one a way to live, and in the next life I’ll serve as your ox and horse…”

“Ow! It hurts so much!”

The evil ghost pinned to the wall saw Jian Chou approaching and was absolutely terrified. He pulled hard in fright, nearly dying from pain, tears streaming down his face.

“Cut the nonsense!”

In this Eighteen Levels of Hell Cauldron Competition, killing anyone wasn’t a problem, and no one had ever stipulated that evil ghosts couldn’t be killed.

So Jian Chou acted almost without any taboos. Hearing his crying gave her a headache, and in her impatience, she directly pointed the Void Demon Umbrella at his neck.

With this move, the horned evil ghost immediately stopped crying.

He looked at Jian Chou with tears in his eyes, pitifully.

The evil ghosts in the Prison Bureau varied in strength, and according to the rules, they couldn’t easily slaughter ghost cultivators participating in the Cauldron Competition, but the participants had no such restrictions.

This way, although curious about these people who had just entered, most evil ghosts hid away, waiting for everyone to pass through.

The little evil ghost never expected that just sneaking out his head to watch some excitement would get him nailed to the wall.

Woe is me!

Wasn’t this woman’s hand a bit too fast?

Damn it, this simply didn’t conform to the basic laws of Extreme Realm cultivation!

He was already cursing loudly in his heart, but his life was still in her hands. The little evil ghost felt extremely wronged, hunched his shoulders, stretched out two hands from the wall, and cupped them in salute to Jian Chou.

“Great aunt, I really have no ill intentions. Please spare me…”

Now he was calling her great aunt.

Due to discovering the Yashan Order, Jian Chou wasn’t in a good mood. On a normal day she might have laughed, but now she remained expressionless.

The little evil ghost was nearly scared to tears by her stern, death-god-like appearance, not even daring to beg for mercy anymore.

Hearing him finally quiet down, Jian Chou slowly spoke: “We’ve searched everywhere but couldn’t find the entrance to the second level. Since you don’t want to die, perfect—lead us there.”

“I—”

The little evil ghost was about to speak.

However, his response was only Jian Chou poking the Void Demon Umbrella further toward his throat!

“No, no, no!”

The little evil ghost was scared out of his wits, fearing this woman might accidentally poke him to death. He quickly raised both hands and shouted: “Ancestor! Ancestor! Don’t poke! I’ll lead, I’ll lead, isn’t that enough?”

His face had become a mourning expression.

Because Jian Chou’s Void Demon Umbrella was still at his neck, he feared Jian Chou might kill him in a moment of displeasure, so his movements were very nimble.

He directly reached out and grabbed one of the murals painted on the wall, pulling it aside—

“Whoosh!”

It was as if everything on the mural had come alive.

Prison fires reaching high, evil ghosts grotesque, yakshas vicious…

A layer of illusory shadows instantly rose from the mural.

Jian Chou and the others felt their vision blur, and when they looked at the mural again, they saw a misty, dreamlike quality—no longer the original stiff carving.

“Hmph, it’s not like you’re the only group going down to the second level anyway…” the little evil ghost muttered, then carefully looked at Jian Chou. “Now can you pull out this ‘nail’ for me?”

Jian Chou glanced at him and only said to Zhang Tang: “As usual, trouble Lord Zhang to go in first. I’ll watch over him.”

Zhang Tang nodded and was the first to walk into the mural, his figure immediately swallowed by mist and disappearing from sight.

Chen Tingyan followed directly behind, and finally came Gu Ling and the old woman.

Before entering, the old woman looked at Jian Chou once, then at the towering Buddha statue. She wanted to say something, but her eyes were full of complexity, and she really couldn’t speak.

Finally, she smiled bitterly and went in with Gu Ling.

Thus, only Jian Chou and the little evil ghost remained in the entire tower.

She didn’t make things difficult for him. With a simple lift of her hand, the nail formed from soul power directly transformed into countless silk threads that flew back into Jian Chou’s forehead.

The little evil ghost regained himself, and the wound on his face from being nailed immediately healed.

He swallowed and patted his chest, still shaken.

“Good thing I reacted quickly and surrendered early, otherwise I would have been done for—”

“Swish!”

Before the little evil ghost finished speaking, he saw a black wind-like dark light rising before him!

It was Jian Chou standing in front of him, suddenly swinging out a sword!

The overwhelming black sword radiance carried a terrifying force, pure to the extreme, like a falling waterfall!

The little evil ghost was immediately scared out of his wits and screamed: “Ah what are you doing—”

“Crack!”

The terrifying splitting sound completely drowned out his remaining words!

What… what kind of joke was this?

The little evil ghost was absolutely stunned by the scene before him!

This sword radiance wasn’t aimed at him, but struck directly at the tall, majestic Buddha statue in front!

The Buddha’s forehead was immediately penetrated by the sword radiance, creating a terrible crack!

“Crash!”

Then countless sword radiances exploded, transforming into countless spinning, exploding black storms!

“Rumble!”

A soul-shaking thunderous roar!

The Buddha statue that had stood in the first level Ice Prison Bureau for a full sixty years, six hundred years total, was actually swept up by the storm and collapsed with a thunderous crash!

Gray smoke and dust surged like waves toward them.

Jian Chou held the Wind-Swallowing Sword but didn’t dodge at all.

She only widened her bloodshot eyes, staring fixedly at this scene before her, as if to carve it deeply into her memory, into her bones and blood!

The great Buddha collapsed, dust filled the air.

The thunderously falling debris buried the countless corpses on the lotus platform and covered the skeleton she had pulled to the surface, along with the scattered fragments of the Yashan Order not far away…

Like a burial mound covering countless deceased below.

Like…

A tomb.

She was a disciple of Yashan, Jian Chou.

Now trapped in the Extreme Realm, she couldn’t even properly bury her predecessors’ remains when she saw them!

For a moment, great sorrow rose from her heart and soul.

Never before had she so desperately wanted to return to the Nineteen Continents, to return to Yashan, and never before had she so hated her current self!

“You… you’re crazy… you’re crazy…”

The little evil ghost was already trembling all over, looking at the ruins before him in disbelief, constantly shaking his head.

“There are thirty-six cities of Buddhist ghost cultivators in the Cauldron Competition. You’re dead… you won’t survive!”

But Jian Chou turned a deaf ear.

Only after she had seen enough did she laugh lowly—hoarse, cold, somewhat contemptuous, yet carrying a bone-chilling coldness that made one shudder!

“Is that so?”

So these Buddhist cultivators, or Esoteric School cultivators, were really that formidable?

She curved her lips with interest, simply grasping the little evil ghost’s neck, her voice light and ethereal: “That would truly be… exactly what I desire.”